Swindler who defrauded villages, schools gets 25 years

Scheme cost area government entities $1.9 million

A Florida man who was convicted in a $179 million real estate fraud scheme that hit the funds of several government entities in the western suburbs was sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

Nikesh Patel pleaded guilty in federal court in 2016 to selling millions in fraudulent real estate loans to investors across the country. About $50 million worth of those loans were sold to Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund (IMET) on behalf of roughly 300 governmental bodies statewide.

Several of those entities were in the western suburbs, including Oak Park School District 97, $716,859; the village of Oak Park, $612,000; River Forest School District 90, $205,000; Forest Park School District 91, $199,412; and the village of River Forest, $145,447.

Patel made headlines in January when he was arrested by FBI agents, while attempting to flee the country to Ecuador.